I'm new here. Been lurking around for a while and I was not expecting to find Loscil as a top comment on this post, so I had to register. I love music, and I love Loscil. If anyone asks me for an ambient/chill out recommendation, Loscil is my go to. Matter of fact, I have Monument Builders in my playlist for tonight, for after I finish the latest Unobscured podcast. Ever since Scott's first work came out he's been steadily releasing great ambient. He hasn't tried to change his formula, or innovate in such a way that his music becomes meaningless. He found his formula and is still sticking with it. Plume sounds just as good as Equivalents, and there is 13 years between those albums. Find another electronics artist you can say that about after first encountering them. Boards of Canada maybe, but they barely around. Also, no discredit to Tim Hecker, jic. Just as you say, it is the perfect background music, whether you're chilling or trying to concentrate. Or music to fall asleep to instead of white noise, but then more interesting. Loscil just never disappoints. Even in sun overflown and humid Thailand. Although it is rainy season now.
First of all - congrats on finally making an account, welcome! I've listened to Monument Builders more times than I can count now. And Equivalents is great, Equivalent 3 is my absolute personal favourite. I've actually been looking for more artists with a similar kind of sound for a little while now but nothing seems to come close.
Nothing comes close to Loscil when it comes to ambient. It’s something unique. His music feels like manufactured emotions. Tim Hecker, Pan American, William Basinski, Christopher Bissonnette, Dead Texan, Stars of the Lid, and Biosphere come to mind, but they are not the same. The thing I can recommend is some of the artists or albums that I also enjoy a lot. Radiohead, especially Amnesiac and Kid A. Kettel & Secede - When Can. Bohren & der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission, there’s an upcoming album of which they’ve released a track that sounds really good. You might like some of the early work of Eluvium, or maybe Max Richter. Those are more neo-classical ambient. I do like Boards of Canada too. I like my music to be somewhat hypnotic, yet organic. I have been into extreme metal more than electronic lately, so I’m gonna leave an album here that was dropped this year of which I think it is amazing, just as amazing as Loscil has been to me for the last 13+ years. It is black metal, but not your regular black metal: Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi. If you want to take that up a notch, check out Kaatayra. Or if you prefer extreme electronic, check out Xanopticon’s Liminal Space. I know this is way more extreme than Loscil, but on an emotional level, to me, they are as close as it can get.